


Puella Magi Animorphs Magica

by mademoisellePlume



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4901293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mademoisellePlume/pseuds/mademoisellePlume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Is it worth it to take on a new enemy when you're already fighting one war? Can wishes make the difference in an invasion? Can magic turn the tide in a battle? </p><p>A strange creature offers the Animorphs a strange new possibility with unreal and incredible dangers. Any wish can be granted, but do the Animorphs know what questions to ask before wishing?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I was flying. Below me was the ocean, lapping at a tiny patch of rock in the sea. I never got away from it, flying in circles.

And as I made my grim cycle of flight, the sound of a desperate scream echoed in my mind. A wail that never ended.

<Nooooo!>

I knew it was a dream, because this sound was carved into my soul. I couldn’t make myself wake up, though, despite desperate attempts to break the flight pattern I was locked in. I screamed to try and drown out David’s final plea. But thought-speak was pervasive, and my screams did no good.

I looked down and saw rats crawling over the small island, and nausea overtook me, and I felt myself dry-heave.

The motion was enough to bring me up in my bed, arm held tight against my abdomen, swinging myself up to a sitting position.

I had known, flying away from that island, that the events of a week ago would haunt me. Especially in my dreams. After all, that’s where my brain deposits every piece of horror that my life collects.

Last night, I had stood over him and laughed as he begged and instead of leaving him on an island, I had watched as a hawk swooped in and devoured him. The night before I had trapped him in between morphs, half rat, half human, a disgusting cross between both, and he had begged me for death. This time was closest to reality, a dream I could relive in reality with ease if I wanted, and that made it so much worse.

 <It doesn’t seem like you slept well, Rachel Berenson.>

The thought-speech was light, bubbly, pleasant to hear in your head. I immediately distrusted it.

There was a white creature at the foot of my bed, built tiny and delicate with a head that seemed too big to be supported by its skeleton. It had a tail that was the size of its body, long and fluffy, which twitched as I looked at it. Lengths of furry flesh hung out of cat-like ears, and it sat like a cat might. There were golden rings around them, supported by something unseen, and under those rings the fur turned pink, with three red spots marking where the fur changed into a different shade.

It looked like I could break its delicate little bones with one hand.

I lunged for it with a quiet snarl of fury, and it blinked red eyes and evaded my hand. <Do you feel threatened by me, Rachel Berenson?> It asked, sounding ever-so-vaguely curious.

“I assumed that anything talking in my head that’s trying too hard to look adorable is something that I don’t want to leave this room knowing my name.” I got off the bed, stalking it across the room with narrowed eyes.

Its head cocked a little to the side. <This form is usually received well by girls of your age. And I have an offer for you, why should I not know your name first?>

I stared at it, then massaged my forehead with the tips of my fingers. “An offer. So I woke from a nightmare to a fucked up dream where I mashed together the Drone babbling about his master wanting to make offers and some of the creatures from Sara’s any-mays.” I looked around, trying to will a fantastic new wardrobe to my room. It failed to appear. “If I know I’m dreaming, doesn’t that mean I can control the dream better?”

<I believe that is the general theory. I do not have dreams, so I can’t speak with any authority on the matter. I am not offering what any creature of the Crayak would offer>

I flopped back onto my bed, one leg on the ground. Maybe if I tried to go back to sleep I would wake up? It didn’t make any sense, but neither did basically anything else. 

God, I hated dreaming. I drummed my fingers on my stomach. Willing myself to wake up into a reality that didn’t include a living plushie. This also failed to happen. 

 <I am offering you the ability to make a contract with me and->

“Oh wow, I’m super interested! Not.” I twirled one finger in the air slowly. This dream was taking forever. 

<…If you make a contract with me, in exchange for granting you any wish you desire, you will become a magical girl, and join in on a war against witches!>

I laughed. How ridiculous! “Oh yeah, totally.” I swung up to sit upright. “Yeah, let’s just join a second war. For a wish! Well, I wish to never, ever dream again. No idiot dreams like this, no nightmares like every other dream I have these days, none at all. Can you do that, flufferbutt?” 

<Oh yes.>

And then its ears reached for my chest and everything went white. 


	2. Chapter 2

It took until Melissa leaned over in math class and complimented my new ring for me to notice anything was different. When I slipped it off my finger later, it flared out into a little red jewel in a little silver cage. “What the hell is this?”

<That is your soul gem, Rachel Berenson.> The little monster from my dream appeared around a corner. It looked like it was smiling at me but then, it always looked like it was smiling.

“What the hell-” I started angrily, but cut off at a touch on my shoulder.

“Who are you talking to, Rachel?” It was Jake, looking concerned.

I closed my fist on the ‘soul gem’ and felt it become a ring again, and pointed with my other hand. “That thing.”

“…What thing?” The creature was licking its paw in a transparent ploy to seem innocent.

“The… little white thing? Looks like a deformed cat-rabbit mix?” I said slowly.

Jake gave me a strange look and glanced around. “Are you… feeling okay?”

<He can’t see me.> I was then informed, and the little thing flicked its tail. <But he could. Is this the place for it?>

“…Let’s talk about this in the meadow, after school.” I tell him, pressing my lips together tightly. He doesn’t look reassured but I flicked my hair over my shoulder and walk away.

School seemed to last a very long time, and it felt like the ring was burning into my finger by the time we all met up in Tobias’ meadow. Marco was the last one to show up, brandishing a piece of paper like a trophy, while the creature sat on my shoulder and I resisted the urge to shove it off.

“Look who scored some digits!”

“No one cares, Marco.” I drawled, feeling like the last dregs of what passed for normalcy was being dragged past me.

“Are you going to explain your weird behaviour at school, Rach?” Jake interrupted the argument that was being started, glaring a warning at Marco before turning his attention to me.

Finally, I could shove the beast off my shoulder, and it jumped to the ground. “I had a visitor last night, and apparently I’m now enrolled in a new war. Against Harry Potter.”

My friends stared at me.

“Okaaaaay, Rachel’s cracked. You owe me five bucks, Tobias, I told you she’d be the first.” Marco said finally, breaking the silence. Vaguely I wondered who Tobias had bet on.

<I do not know this Harry Potter, but this is not a witch I have ever heard of, Rachel Berenson.> The creature said primly.

“I don’t care! You said you could be visible to Jake, do it!” I snapped, tiring of being looked at like I’d gone off the deep end.

<Oh, everyone here has the capacity to see me.> Everyone’s heads snapped to the little white creature on the floor, and I supposed that was public thought-speak. <Hello Cassie Sosanya, Marco Guerra, Jake Berenson, Tobias Fangor, and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.>

Everyone stared, looking shocked. I frowned. “That’s not his name. Tobias, your last name was Audubon, wasn’t it?”

<But Fangor is the name he should have had, and therefore it is the name of his soul.> The creature licked its paw coolly.

<…Rachel. Rachel tell me you wished nothing of this monster!> Ax’s thought-speak ‘voice’ was uncharacteristically high-pitched and panicked. I shrugged and turned up my palm, the little soulgem appearing and then hovering above it.

“Sorry Ax.”

<What is wrong, aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill?> Red eyes fixed on three of Ax’s, his fourth scanning for a way out.

“What do you know about this thing?” Jake asked.

“What did I agree to that I don’t know about?” I wanted to know.

<I don’t know anything. Just rumours. But I wish you hadn’t wished for anything.> Ax didn’t seem willing to be more forthcoming, and we all looked at each other.

<If you want to understand more, Rachel Berenson, I suggest you transform.>

“…To what? Why does that matter?”

<No, I don’t mean to morph. I mean to transform. Take your soul gem, and imagine it casting a shadow of your power over yourself. Expanding and enveloping you in its light.>

I looked down at the little thing and then at the little gem in my palm. “…Uh.”

“I’d rather find out more information about what this all means.” Jake said firmly.

<It will make more sense once she understands her new strengths.>

That attracted all of our attention. Strength was something a force like ours needed.

“Alright, let’s give it a try then.”

I tossed the gem into the air and caught it. The advice of the little monster seemed stupid, but whatever. I imagined it expanding and catching me up in it. Nothing happened. I scowled, but instead of whining, I decided to do it my own way.

It said it was a transformation, right? So I was basically morphing into whatever this thing was guiding me into.

So I concentrated on the soulgem as if I was going to morph into it.

Instead of my flesh rippling and turning into something new, I took a break and turned away from the group, my body moving as I felt tempted to.

In a floor routine.

I cartwheeled and I felt my ponytail burst open to let my hair loose and something thick covered my arms. I did an aeriel and my jeans were gone and a heavy skirt that hit my knees was there instead. I did a back handspring and a round off and there was a heavy cape against my back and a weight on my torso.

The soul-gem was gone, but I could feel it now at the hollow of my throat, shaped like a single drop of liquid.

I looked at my friends, who were staring at me.

I felt amazing.

“Is that bear fur?” Cassie asked.

I looked down and considered it. “I think so.”

My outfit consisted of a golden chainmail shirt, with a skirt made of leather strips, as if I was a roman warrior. I had a sword on a belt that I somehow just knew had a ivory handle. I had a heavy bear cape that fell to the back of my calves, and the bear arms were still connected, working as sleeves. The bear paws were on the back of my hands, the claws looking shiny, sharp and metallic, held in place by a strip of fabric around my palm. My shoes were gladiator sandals that I wouldn’t have minded wearing with a cute pair of shorts.

I kind of thought I looked hot.

“You know, when I told you that you were like Xena, I didn’t mean you should get a whole battle maiden outfit.” Marco said after another period of stunned silence.

“Shut up Marco.”

Jake stepped forwards then, pacing around me slowly. “So this is what it meant by transforming. And so what do we understand now? Rachel can change clothes in an even flashier way?”

“Jake, I feel great. I could kick a dozen Hork Bajir asses right now. I could take Erek with his programming turned off. Morph tiger, fight me, c’mon! Let’s fight right now! Ax, you can fight me, let’s go!” I said, eager to show them just how strong I felt.

<She is a magical girl, now. She must fight witches as well as your invaders, but you must know that you need to take every weapon you have to hand?>

“Ax, c’mon, tailblade out, let’s go!”

“Rachel, calm down.” Jake ordered sharply, rubbing his head. “What exactly is a witch?”

<Witches are creatures that feed on human misery, and draw humans to suicide and pain. Would you like me to take you to one? You can see for yourself.> The little monster offered.

<Just humans?> Ax asked sharply.

<Well. Intelligent creatures. I forgot you stood with us, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.>

“If it’s doing that, we have to stop it.” Cassie said firmly, frowning deeply.

<If you want, all of you would make fine magical girls yourselves. If you make a contract with me, it could happen! Just make a wish, and you will become magical girls, bonded to the fight with witches for all your lives.>

“I think we should find out all the details about this before anyone else rushes into this.” Marco said, giving me a sidelong look. I scowled at him, and he shrugged. The worst thing was that he was right.

“Show us this witch.” Jake decided. “That’s the first thing we need information about.”


	3. Chapter 3

I dismissed my new outfit, not interested in looking like a cosplayer gone out of control as the creature that was leading us to a witch brought us into the city.

It told us that it was called ‘Kyubey’ and Ax, in his very pretty human morph, entertained himself with the mouth-sounds that made until we arrived near a McDonalds, one where their happy meals could be ordered with extra happy.

We exchanged glances. Not the best place for something that made people miserable.

Or was it?

Marco’s expression was calculating, which made me realize that this might be a blessing in disguise. “Do regular people know witches are there?” he asked.

<No, they just feel the effects. You see that woman there?> There was a woman walking into the fast food restaurant, wearing a business suit and holding a briefcase. Her hair was in an updo, and I wondered if she’d done it that way so that her hair wouldn’t be mussed when a Yeerk slid out of her ear. She had a tattoo on her neck that I found odd. Women that dressed like my mother didn’t often have tattoos, at least not where they might show. Mom had one on the small of her back, a blue butterfly. (I once called it a ‘tramp stamp’ and Mom took an hour to explain to me that was a sexist term, took away my phone privileges for a week, and told me next time I did it the lecture would be three hours and I’d have no phone for a month.)

<That is a Witch’s Kiss on her neck. That woman, and the Yeerk controlling her, have been touched by the witch. Their behavior will be different and strange, and they’ll seek out a way to end their lives. This feeds the witch.>

I deliberately didn’t think about what that meant when we came here to harm the Yeerk invasion force.

“This could be useful.” Marco murmured.

Cassie caught on immediately. “No.”

“That’s not a decision we can make this early,” Jake intervened before an argument could break out. “We’re tabling it for later.”

I felt uncomfortable and looked at Tobias. His human face, as usual, was blank and hard to read, but I wanted his opinion later. It was an effective weapon against the yeerks, but one they’d never see coming, and would take their hosts with them. Something about it squirmed in my stomach.

“Let’s see what a witch looks like,” he suggested, taking my hand.

I moved forwards and, on instinct, led the way to a mark on the drive-through sign, reaching out a hand and expanding the portal. We all stepped through, and my kickass outfit reappeared with a few flips and shit.

The labyrinth was nonsense to my eyes, and this is coming from someone who’s been on an alien planet. It was like things existed in an extra dimension that we couldn’t quite comprehend.

What we could comprehend was like if hell was one of those McDonald’s playrooms.

Everything was shiny plastic in day-glo colours. Little red Happy Meal boxes trooped along on stick figure legs, wearing ghastly grins and staring off to the side with deranged eyes. We were wading through a ball pit.

“Where’s the witch?” Jake asked, scowling at Marco after he’d received a bright red plastic ball to the head.

The little freakish contract-peddling monster was sitting on Ax’s shoulders, which did not make Ax look very happy. Later I would need to press him for information about what he might know. Or get Jake to do so, that would probably work better. <It will be at the heart of the labyrinth. You should all be careful. Even the familiars can be dangerous. Rachel is your best defence.>

“Oh, Rachel, will you ~protect~ me?” Marco put an arm around my back and leaned his head on my shoulder, batting his eyelashes at me.

I smacked a red plastic ball onto his forehead and smirked. “Go gorilla, loser, I’m not bothering myself about you.”

We paused so the others could morph, and in Tobias’s and Ax’s cases, demorph. We hid behind a waterfall of cheap toys, falling like a curtain between us and a strange world. Kyubey jumped to my shoulder as Ax morphed, and I amused myself by pelting balls at all of them. It felt strange to be human when the others were morphed for battle.

My hand stayed on the ivory hilt of my sword when we took off again, Kyubey sitting on Ax’s back like a little furry king on its blue throne. One of Ax’s stalk eyes was constantly watching it.

We crawled through a blue plastic tube that writhed in place, pulsing like it was alive, expanding for all of our different girths.

<This is creepy as hell.> Tobias told me privately as Marco quietly chanted <Gross, gross, gross.>

<This all looks like a dream.> Cassie observed, peering through a little transparent plastic window at the bright chaos outside.

“Nightmare.” I corrected, frowning.

<Oh no, Rachel Berenson. You are most certainly awake. I promise.> Kyubey assured me. I suppose it wanted to be sure I knew that there was no risk to my wish.

We went down a slide into a pool of pink goop that stunk like chicken nuggets. It tasted like it too, we were probably lucky that Ax didn’t have a mouth at the moment, or he’d try to drink the entire thing by himself.

<Hey, tigers like swimming!>

<Hawks still don’t.> I chuckled and scooped Tobias out of the pool, holding him to my chest as we all waded out of the weird pool, back into a floor covered by bright plastic balls.

Tobias sulkily morphed human and was demorphing again when one of the little Happy Meal creatures leaped at him, it’s wide grinning mouth suddenly full of fangs. Tobias screamed, a sound that was half hawk and half human, and I sliced the thing into pieces, my sword a blur of metal.

The pieces fell to the ground and I breathed hard.

My friends stared at me, including Tobias, half-crouched, looking like a malformed harpy or some shit. He was paused in the midst of morphing, and his lips were half beak, but I kissed them anyways.

I pulled away and grinned. “Wow guys, adrenaline is a way better kick in the pants when you have the human glands to secrete it!” Tobias’ cheeks were still burning red as feathers crept over them and he finished demorphing.

I’d never fought like that as a human. I wasn’t kidding about the adrenaline rush, but part of me remembered the feeling of shoving a kid against a wall and holding a fork to his ear. That was the last really physical fight I was in as a human, if that even counted as a fight.

<You okay, Rachel?> Cassie asked, coming up and rubbing against my leg. I rubbed the wolf head between the ears.

“Dandy! Let’s find the witch already!”

Another familiar attacked, but Ax had that one, cutting off its sneaker-wearing feet and slicing open its disquietingly empty cardboard body. <If they’re attacking, we must be getting closer,> he said, stalk eyes turning to me, main ones focused on the slain foe.

<There.> Marco said, pointing to golden arches ahead, with huge statues of the signature clown of McDonald’s at the foot of each end. Behind them was a giant ragdoll, so crude it barely counted as one.

It was just red yarn bunched into a vaguely bipedal shape, moving like it danced to a song we didn’t hear.

<That is the exact same shade of red as Ronald McDonald’s hair,> Tobias opined, and none of us argued.

Okay. Game time. “Well, thats my cue. You guys hide behind the statues at the base of the arches, and I’ll see how tough a witch can be.” I started forwards, but the mouth of a tiger caught my cape.

<We were just checking the witch out,> Jake told me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Part of that is finding out how tough it is. We can always ferry another witch here if we gotta.” I tugged my cape out of his grip, and he let me.

Sword in hand, I leaped from the ball covered ground to the head of a Ronald McDonald, to the top of the golden arch. Wow. This magical girl thing had great benefits.

I launched myself at the mass of red yarn.

A length of red yarn slammed me into the ground, sending up a fountain of plastic balls. I sliced the piece away from its body, and it fell over me, twitching and secreting blood that smelt like salty beef juice.

I hauled myself up and went for the ‘ankles,’ figuring that the bigger they were, the harder they fell. It kicked me away and I hit the wall hard and slid down. Ow. I’d have to morph that bruise away.

Back up again, I threw my sword at it, losing my temper, and another weapon was able to be pulled right out of the air. Oh yes. I could work with that.

Leaping from surface to surface, squishing familiars underfoot, I launched sword after sword until a familiar grabbed the end of my cape in its endless grin and pulled me back. I sliced at it, but not before my ankle was circled by red rope the thickness of my wrist. I was hauled into the air. One of my friends screamed. I’m not sure who.

Before I could do anything, something surrounded me, made of much thinner strands, pulling painfully tight around me and dragging me out of the witch’s hold, releasing me when I’d been pulled into a safer zone.

<Rachel, we’re demorphing. Don’t ask why. Act normal.> Jake was tense and no surprise, because I was confused and had no idea what had just happened.

Someone in a blue dress, with gold glinting at their hands and feet was darting around the witch.

Someone with…. no. My mind shut down with disbelief.

The other magical girl had the witch bundled up in a net, hanging from a french fry stalactite on the ceiling and didn’t kill it, running back towards us.

“Rachel! Come on!” She grabbed my hand and I let her, stunned. There were gold shackles on her wrists and ankles, gold chains trailing off from them until the points where they were broken. Her outfit was a super cute navy blue sailor dress, with a white scarf tied around the sailor collar, brass buttons on the bodice, and white borders on the hem of the skirt and the short sleeves. Her soulgem was a pale blue streak on her face, from the corner of her left eye to the middle of her cheek.

Her pale blonde hair streamed out behind her in a banner as she ran.

“You guys too! Come on, what are you even doing here by yourselves with a rookie like Rachel!? Ohmigosh, you gotta call me next time!”

We all ran, led by Melissa Chapman.


	4. Chapter 4

Standing in a semi-circle, we seven breathed hard.

There haven’t been seven of us in this group since- no, this isn’t a good time to think of him.

“You look really cute Rachel! Like some sort of cutesy version of a warrior woman! Oooh, that’s an ivory handle on that sword, isn’t it?” Melissa didn’t seem that shaken or concerned, cooing over my outfit and weapon, putting a hand on my shoulder and stroking the soft bear fur. “And golden chainmail! Very nice.”

I was just gaping at Melissa, and it took Cassie’s hand touching my arm before I could shake off my surprise. “You’re a magical girl too?!”

“I thought you saw my ring today!” She seemed to burst with a flash of blue and gold and then was in a far more casual jeans and a t-shirt, and waggled her hand to show off her soulgem, now a gleam of blue on a silver band. “I saw yours! I meant to say something, but you hurried off after school.”

This was Melissa, the Melissa I’d once shopped and hung out with after gymnastics. Not the sad, withdrawn girl she’d become. What had changed? …What had she wished for?

“Yeah, I guess I just wanted to figure out some things about being a… you know, I don’t wanna say it, it sounds so dumb.”

“A magical girl?” She asked wryly. “Not dumb enough to stop you from telling… well, actually, a lot of people.” She looked at the group. The only one still panting was Tobias, not using to effort in his human body any longer.

“We all have the potential to make wishes.” Marco told her with a shrug. “I guess it wasn’t as smart an idea as we thought to check out a witch.”

“That was a formidable, if nonsensical foe.” Ax says, and as he opens his mouth to play with the word ‘foe’ Jake gently steps on his foot to cue him not to do so.

“Yeah, old McDonna’s got way more then a farm in her labyrinth.” She took my hand and smiled at me. “But there’s a lot I have to teach you about being a magical girl, Rachel!”

“Yeah? Like wh-” I hissed in pain as her grip grew painful. “Melissa!”

“Magical girls have territories. I’ll share the city with you all, but some of it is mine, and this witch is in mine.” She released my hands and grinned. “Seven is tolerable, but there’s a limit after that! So stop approaching people, Kyubey.” She looks over her shoulders at the placid red stare.

“I’ll give you a map later with my territory marked out. Has Kyubey explained about grief seeds yet? You’ll need to know that!”

She never seemed less then honestly cheerful. Not all the way the old Melissa, then.

“Um. Melissa.” Cassie said, staring at her as I pulled my hands back and rubbed them.

“Hm?”

“What was that?”

“What? Oh! Territory is very important to magical girls. Many would kill you as soon as you entered without permission. But we were friends, and I’d like to be again, Rachel. If I didn’t make it clear that trespassing wasn’t appreciated, you might not realize how serious it is and go into a town with a girl that is just vicious. And all I want is the witches in the grounds that I’ve staked out. There’s certain rewards with killing a witch, you see.”

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a little black orb with a long, thin spike and a strange grey symbol on it. “This is a grief seed. It purifies our gems, and helps keep our magic strong. When you kill a witch, they’ll leave one behind.” She pockets it again and sighs, gesturing at me. “Why don’t you get comfortable Rachel?”

I blink and then nod my head, touching the gem at my neck and letting my clothes vanish away, leaving me in my clothes from the day. “Okay. Yeah, seems important. How did you decide on your territory?”

“At random really, it’s not that important how I picked, just that I did.” Melissa shrugs, and then looks at everyone else. “Are you all going to make wishes?”

The others looked at each other and made various noncommittal noises and gestures. “We don’t know.” Tobias answered, face back to hawk-neutral.

“There’s more to figure out before we could make a decision.” Jake said decidedly. “How long have you been one?”

“Oh, a few months. I’m no real veteran. But I can show you a few things, Rachel, and you can pass them on whenever any of the rest of you make your decisions. One way or another.”

“Do you think we should?” Cassie asked, and I looked at her, wondering what she thought that would tell her.

Melissa looked serious then, a shadow of the Melissa she’d been when I’d comforted her as Fluffer McKitty. “It’s not a game. It’s not a joke. If you know the fight you’re getting into, and your wish is important enough to you… Yeah, you should. But there’s a lot out there. Getting into a war isn’t something to do lightly.”

I didn’t look at Marco, knowing his amusement would be dancing in his eyes.

“Anyways, I’ve got patrols to do. I’ll talk to you more later, Rachel.” She waved and left, and we watched her go.

“Shit.” Tobias said.

“You said it.” I agreed, running a hand through my hair. “You gotta feel for her dad, huh?”

“Hey! Let’s talk more later.” Jake said, his tone clearly warning. We were still relatively close to the pool entrance that was the McDonalds.

We made our way back to the barn, but could come to no conclusion except for how strange this all was. I couldn’t dismiss the pity I felt for the Vice-Principal. All the desperation to keep his daughter safe I’d seen when he rebelled - and she’s just in another danger he could never have seen coming.

“I’ll find out more from Melissa.” I promised, my ring gleaming on my hand. Hawk eyes watched that finger carefully.

“No one else make a wish without talking to the group first.” Jake warned. “I’m not sure that this power is worth having a second front to fight, and I think we should vote on it when we have more information.”

“There’s something else we’re not bringing up.” Marco said, exchanging a look with Cassie.

“We can talk more about this later, Mom’s expecting me home soon.” I said, not wanting to hear it.

“Rachel. Why would she be so protective over that spot? What if she-” Cassie sounded reasonable, and I wasn’t in the mood.

“She doesn’t. It’s coincidence, and she’s just carved out her own little bit of land to hunt on. If it keeps her magic strong, it makes sense not to let anyone else poach her kills- doesn’t it, Tobias?” I appealed to another predator.

His head cocked. <Well, yeah. Let’s just split, and when we have the map, we’ll figure out the next move.>

No one looked happy as they left, especially Ax, whose stalk eyes moved even more than usual.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. It may or may not have been....almost two years since this was updated. So, probably no one is still reading? But I got the story in my head again and had to write some of it out. Maybe there will be more later this summer? No clue, honestly. But I hope you enjoy it! Any questions you have you can ask on Tumblr, I'm krakendra there. Thanks for reading, and double thanks if you leave a review. <3

“I still think we need to have a discussion about all this,” Cassie grumbled, crossing her arms. 

“Look, what’s the point of arguing about what we’re going to do if I can’t use these powers properly?” I reason, grinning at my bestie. I’m already transformed into my outfit, ready to go.

“We’re going to talk about it once we’ve worn out Rachel’s energy a bit and gotten an idea of what she can do against enemies that aren’t witches,” Jake said, rolling his eyes. 

“There’s no need to argue until later. Let’s just kick Rachel’s magical butt.”

“Jake, that’s weird,” Marco told him, making a face. “She’s your cousin.”

Jake choked and then shoved Marco forwards. “That’s it, you’re fighting Rachel first.”

“Oh, throw me to the lions why don’t you?” Marco complained. There was a moment of awkwardness before he continued quickly, trying to gloss over how we all flashed back to that awful fight Jake had with David. “Rachel wants to beat me up all the time anyways.” He’s right about that anyway.

“And now I can without Jake telling me off!”

< Have you decided what you want on your gravestone yet, Marco?> Tobias asked, perched on a tree nearby.

<Gravestone?> Ax asked. He turned a stalk eye to Tobias, his main eyes locked on me as I beckon Marco forwards to his doom.

Kyubey sat underneath Tobias’ tree, seemingly uncaring of the predator overhead that could descend upon it and strike with talons and beak. It said nothing and just watched. Ax’s fourth eye stayed trained on it.

< We put them on the ground when we bury corpses, Ax. Usually with the lifespan of the person who died and a nice phrase on it.> Tobias explained.

< Oh. You have enough space on your planet to bury all your dead?>

“Kind of? I think space is starting to be a bigger deal.” Jake shrugs.

“Some people burn their bodies into ashes,” I tell Ax. “But it’s taboo in some communities.”

“Can we be less morbid and just get this over with?” Cassie sighed. “Funerary measures will hopefully not be needed for any of us but Marco anytime soon.”

“Hey!” Marco frowned at Cassie. “I’ll write you out of the will, you keep talking like that. That goes for all of you. I’ll leave all my worldly possessions to Erek, see if I won’t.”

“What is Erek going to do with nudie magazines and video games exactly?” I asked him sweetly. 

“Shut up!” Marco went red. 

< What are-> Ax began but was distracted by Jake shouting.

“NOT IT.”

Tobias and Cassie followed suit with me and Marco a beat behind them. “God fucking damn it. Rock, papers, scissors, c’mon.” Marco urged desperately. “I’m not explaining porn to Ax.”

“No,” Jake decreed. “Loser explains what a nudie mag is to Ax.”

Both putative fighters made a face at their leader. 

< Am I supposed to be this confused?> Ax asked Tobias.

< It’s something embarrassing, and it motivates both of them to actually try and hurt each other,> his nephew told him with just a hint of amusement.

“I don’t need motivation to hurt Marco,” I scoff, rolling my eyes at the very idea. Marco didn’t reply, his lips turning black as he began to morph, black hairs sprouting across his skin. “And if I did, you could have just offered to buy the winner an ice cream.”

“What, and reward your behaviour?” Jake snorted.

< Since I have to have the embarrassing conversation either way, I demand all ice cream rewards as recompense,> Ax’s eyes were smiling, but his tail was moving back and forth in a gently swaying fashion.

<Alright Xena, let’s go.>

I put a hand on the hilt of her sword. “Til first blood? Or first horrible wound we have to morph away?”

<JAKE.>

“First blood, guys. Rachel, try not to actually murder him. Marco, remember she’s human right now,” Jake said, feeling like one day his eyes might get stuck back in his head if he kept rolling them like this.

“Boo.” I made a face and then turned my attention to the fight. “Don’t you dare take it easy on me.”

We start then, Marco lunging forwards with sudden heavy movement, a long powerful limb swinging right for my head. I saw Cassie wincing in anticipation before I move instinctively to block it.

Which… worked? What?

The huge black arm was held still by my hand catching it by the wrist. I know the kind of strength the gorilla morph has, I’ve seen it wreck bodies and structures and - I’m holding it still. It’s not that hard.

Marco exerted more strength, the gorilla’s muscles bulging. His arm did not move an inch.

< Oh shit,> Tobias said.

I still have one hand on my sword, but I remove it. Doesn’t seem like there’s much point. “Oh, I can get used to this.” 

Marco swung his other arm and then we were grappling, the weight of a five hundred pound gorilla against a slim blonde girl, equally matched. Equally matched! This is the best.

“This… if we can hide her identity, we can use this,” Jake said, not looking at Cassie.

< Someone is getting a use out of this,> Ax said quietly as if it was thought speak that hadn’t been meant to be broadcast. He still watched the creature known as Kyubey.

I wasn’t really paying attention as me and Marco struggled to gain the upper hand. I cocked my head to the side a little. With the strength I had, I could probably knock him back with a good headbutt. It’d hit his jaw, given the height difference, and the way gorilla faces were structured, but I bet it’d hurt like hell and he’d back off and I could try my luck at punching a gorilla.

“What do you-oh SHIT.” Jake was distracted by the horrible cracking noise as I slammed my head forwards and smacked it right into Marco’s chin.

Marco’s harsh scream of pain was muffled by- oh god. He stumbled away, and I saw that the lower half of his jaw was caved in, and he was rapidly shrinking in size, demorphing as he swore up a storm in thought speak. His teeth were falling out and growing back in as he demorphed.

My hands covered my mouth, and I couldn’t move. That was so much more brutal than I’d meant it to be. My forehead ached a little, but it was distant. I only knew that Marco’s teeth or shattered jaw bone had created a cut on my forehead by how blood dripped down my face and onto my hands. Head wounds bled so much.

It took until Marco was human and his face knit back together for me to manage words. “I- Marco, I am SO sorry. I was- I was kidding about everything, and then, I just- I thought it would. I mean, I thought it would hurt but not like that.”

Marco waved until I gave up talking and got to his feet. “That hurt like hell. It was incredible.” He took a deep breath, thinking for a second and then said, slowly, “If that’s you as a rookie without using your weapon or magic? Who knows? We might just win this war.” He grinned at me, and I smiled back a bit, using the bear-sleeve to wipe away tears and blood. The blood replaced itself quickly, but whatever.

< The question is which one,> said Kyubey. It swished its tail and tilted its head when we stared at it, the picture of innocence.

***

“I don’t know if we should keep going,” I say, rolling my shoulders. “I can probably get Melissa to practice fight with me.” It’d be safer for the others, probably.

“We need to know your capabilities if we’re going to use you against the Yeerks though.” Marco pointed out. “I’m fine, we can all morph away injuries.”

“I’m not worried about if you’re fine.” I immediately sneer at him. Marco snickered. “Shut up.” What an ass, I can’t believe I felt bad about caving in his face with my skull at all.

“You love me. You’re concerned about my well-being.” He teased.

“You know what, let’s go again.” 

“Okay, break it up. I’ll go this time.” Jake interrupted before things escalated. “This time, try doing something magic, okay Rach?”

“I’ll try.” I scrunch my nose up a bit in distaste at how weird it still sounds. “Magic. This is what our lives have come to. Aliens and magic.”

“You should have read my comic books when we were little.” Jake joked, eyes turning yellow and skeleton sloping dramatically forwards.

“You say like you and Marco don’t still clutter your rooms up with them,” I snort at him. Waiting for Jake to finish morphing, she looks at the others. Kyubey has hopped up onto Ax’s back, and both of Ax’s stalk eyes are trained on it. Ax was tense and his legs were nearly trembling with restrained movement. Tobias was watching Ax and Kyubey with his fierce hawk stare.

Cassie and Marco were sneaking peeks at the situation, but didn’t stare. Cassie was writing something down in a little journal. 

< Ax knows something about the thing. We should push him to tell more when it’s not around.>

Marco and Cassie’s heads jerked up. “Rachel?!”

Jake paused midmorph. His skeleton, minus his skull, was entirely feline, and he’d sprouted a fleshy tail. He had not sprouted any fur whatsoever, though some of the tiger’s muscles had clearly grown under his pink skin. “What?” His teeth had grown, so the words were a bit garbled, but his lungs and throat seem to be unchanged enough to allow him to speak.

“Rachel, you can use thought speak like that?” Cassie asked incredulously. 

< Rachel Berenson can use telepathy in her magical girl outfit or not. > Kyubey informed them all primly. < It’s part of being a magical girl. >

“Okay, that’s useful.” I have to admit, and then test it out again. < Testing, testing, Marco’s a wuss and Jake needs to finish morphing before someone pukes. And by someone, we all know who I mean. >

“I don’t puke THAT much.” Marco rolled his eyes.

< But you are a wuss? > Tobias asked.

“I have self-preservation instincts. You know, like none of the rest of you do.”

Jake had returned to morphing, and let out a roar when he was done.

“Ready? FIGHT.” Marco said like someone appointed him the referee.

Jake began to stalk around me, with careful deliberate movements that I knew very well could suddenly turn into a deadly attack. 

Right. Magic. Kyubey wasn’t offering any advice, so I think back on the basic way I get into magical girl mode. I do what feels right. Magic seems to be a lot of instinct then honed into technique.

The tiger pounced. I slid out of the way just in time, dropping to help me evade his claws. Turning in a whirl, my blade goes flying right for him, spinning in a circle, creating a swirl of silver and bone white. 

Jake moved too fast for it to catch him, and put himself between him and it, making sure I couldn’t lunge for it, and that I was separated from my most way to attack.

But something told me that didn’t matter. I reached each hand under the opposite arm’s bear fur covering, and drew them both out holding two more swords. Marco whistled as I launched myself forwards, bearing each one in each hand.

His muscles bunched and he gathered himself forwards, before bounding into the air and evading my blow almost entirely. The end of his tail was lopped off though, and he roared in pain as he landed. Quick as he did, he spun and lunged for her. 

I raised the sword that hadn’t tasted blood yet and hop backwards, evading his first lunge. 

Then I heard rapid clicking noises as the sword produced one blade after another, the tip of each one swinging to the side as the blades made a full circle, glowed gently and turned into a grey round shield with an ivory umbo at the centre of the shield. Jake snarled and launched himself at me again, and I hold the shield before me.

The new shield was enough to deflect the claws that had reached out for me, and my new strength helped me stand her ground.

Changing my grip on the sword, I went to follow through with another blow, but I had to pause at the sound of Cassie’s voice.

“Rachel! STOP!”

I dropped the sword, letting it fall to the ground and looked at Cassie who was standing behind Jake and looking horrified. “What?”

“Rachel, stop it!” She said urgently, narrowing her eyes at me.

“What?! I dropped my sword, I stopped!” Geez, what crawled up her butt?

Marco came up from my side, resting a hand on my arm. “Rachel, stop the thing with your shield.” 

“My shield?” I blinked at him and then turned it so I could see it. 

On the light grey surface, I could see a scene in the jungle, insects buzzing, lush green plant life, the work. And there was a body lying there, wounds on his body like a vicious animal had scored him harsh with its claws. 

“Tom?” I whispered. Why was my shield showing my cousin like this?

Looking past the shield, I saw Cassie hugging the neck of the tiger that was Jake, whispering in his ear. Slowly, the tiger began to shrink. I looked back at Marco and let go of the shield, letting it vanish into the air.

“What just happened?” He asked me.

“...Magic. I guess.” I looked at Jake and felt a wash of guilt in my stomach. “I think I’m done testing this shit out for now.” I was running out of friends to retraumatize, after all.   
With a burst of glitter, my outfit vanished, leaving me in my morphing outfit, with a cute white summer dress overtop. My soul gem was on my finger again, rather than sitting at the base of my throat.

“Your face is still covered in blood,” Marco told me, making a face. 

I shrug. “Guess magical girls can get messy. I’ll morph the wound away in a bit. But first…”

We both look at Jake. He’s human again and for a second looks half wild. Then he breathes in and out, shivering a little, closing his eyes for a half second. “Okay. Let’s talk that out.” 

We all sit under the tree Tobias is in, Kyubey sitting in the centre, watching us with its bright little demon eyes.

Cassie settled next to me and then tugged me closer. Licking her thumb like an old lady, she gently scrubbed at the blood on my forehead. It hurt a bit when she was touching the bits of torn skin that Marco’s teeth and bones had left. “I’m going to morph it away soon, you don’t have to worry.”

She was staring at me. “Morph and fix it NOW. Jesus Rachel, I can see a bit of your skull showing through. Doesn’t it hurt?”

“What? I mean, it does, but not that much.” I frown and reach my hand towards the wound before Cassie swats it away. “Okay, Okay.”

I pull off my dress and hand it to Cassie before morphing into a wolf and then back to human, no injury or blood left. I drop back to the ground, taking the dress back but not putting it on, in case anything else needs to be tested. Cassie observes something I missed entirely.

“Your ring stayed on when you morphed.”

“Did it?” I blink. “That’s… weird.”

“Well, that kind of ruins any chance of someone thinking you’re a normal animal,” Marco observed. “Hey, can I see the thing? That the ring turns into?”

I hesitate but like- why not? “Sure.” I flick it over to him, watching him catch it and inspect it with a weird sense of discomfort.

“Soul gem. That’s an interesting turn of phrase.” Marco muses. Ax huffs a little, the slits of his nose blowing out with the expelled air. Marco tosses it in the air once or twice and then tosses it back, nodding a little. “It’s a small thing to give you so much power.”

“I mean, the morphing cube isn’t all that big either.” I point out. 

“Was it that shade of red earlier?” He asked.

I look at it. “...I think?”

< It’s darker now.> Ax says, and I’m not arguing with the guy who has four eyes.

“Huh. Melissa mentioned something about purifying them. Think it’s related?” My question is met with shrugs.

< Grief seeds from witches help purify your gems. The more magic you use, the darker your soul gem gets. That’s why it’s so important to fight witches!> Kyubey volunteered.   
I open my mouth to ask what exactly the grief seeds are purifying but Cassie’s knee knocks into mine and she speaks instead.

“You should see if you can hang out with Melissa this weekend. Learn more about what this all involves, maybe practice your magic with someone that’s more used to this kind of fight.” She paused. “It’s a long weekend.”

“...Yeah?” I wait for Cassie to explain why that matters.

“You watch her during the day, we’ll take shifts at night to make sure she’s not a Controller,” Marco said bluntly. “It’ll be easier than most of our stakeouts on Controllers since you won’t have to keep morphing during the day shifts.”

“We already know Melissa isn’t a Controller. Her dad would be twitching and rebelling all the time if that changed!” I objected.

“Rachel.” Jake sighed. “They could have come down harder on him and broke his spirit. Or convinced him it was the smart choice. We don’t know.”

“The map she gave you surrounded every single Pool entrance. That’s suspicious as hell.” Marco added.

“Ugh. Whatever.” The thought of Melissa being a Controller made my stomach turn. I could still remember how her father had pleaded for her freedom.

< I haven’t seen her going into any entrances, but I’ve seen her near them. It could be the witch thing, but it could be something else. No reason not to be careful. > Tobias goes and is reasonable, like an asshole. < I mean, she might just be limiting her territory to places where she sees her dad a lot.>

“Exactly. So let’s find out for sure. Anyways: what we know for sure right now is that Rachel now has super strength, a Xena cosplay ready to go, can summon several copies of her sword, as well as turn it into a shield that has magic that seems to target her opponent’s emotional weaknesses, and can use thought-speak in her human form.” Jake summarised. 

“Uh- if it’s not too weird to ask… what exactly did the shield show? I just saw Tom.” I have to ask, though I feel bad when Jake winces.

“The shield showed Tom running away, but when Jake pounced- it showed…” Cassie hesitated. “It looked like it was a mirror? It showed the tiger attacking the shield. I couldn’t see it that well then because Jake was in the way, but when he fell back, I saw Tom’s body.”

Jake was red and gritting his teeth. “It was targeting my emotions or something. Anyways. Can we move on?”

Yeah. I think there might be more to it than that, but Jake wasn’t in the mood for pushing right now, you didn’t have to be Cassie to tell.

“Question is, is it worth having someone obviously human start fighting with the ‘Andalite Bandits’?” Marco asked, steepling his fingers. 

< Question is, does the superstrength work when she’s not human?> Tobias looked at me and I have to smile a little.

“I don’t think it even works when I’m not all magicked out.” I laugh. “Too bad, huh? Imagine a super-strong bear me? Oh, I’d rock it.”

“We’ll have to table Marco’s question until Rachel’s more comfortable with the magical girl thing anyways, and we feel like we have a better grasp on it. Maybe if we decide someone else should make a wish, we could have two people running magical missions against the yeerks separate from all of us acting as the Andalite Bandits?” Jake shrugged. “For now- go work with Melissa, learn what you can, and get back to us with more information after. Whether or not Melissa is a Controller, she’s a vital source of information right now.

“Alright already, I’ll call her when I get home.” I agree, rolling my eyes. “Reconvene Monday afternoon at the barn, then?”

We agree and break up. I kind of wanted to hold back and grill Ax about why he kept watching Kyubey, but the thing was trailing at my heels and I was not having the discussion when it was right there, listening.

I’ll ask him later.


End file.
